Sleeping on the beach, seeing the pope

After exploring the city, the time came for us to crash on the beach. Seriously, we slept on the beach like bums. It was a very interesting experience. This event led up to the real reason as to why we were in Rio, to see Pope Francis.

It was a nice 2013 winter day in Rio. The sun came and went at times. When the sun came out, it was extremely hot for the winter time. The type of hot that would give you a headache. Like the picture above, many of us found something to shield our heads from the sun.

SDC10701 — skyscrapers in Rio by Hugo Morel

Once lunch time came, we had to stay in line for about 2 hours to get our meal and our meal cards. The meal cards would give us two free meals per day. The pictures below were taken during us waiting in line.

more Rio’s skyscrapers, Hugo Morel

lady getting her lunch, Hugo Morel

the hectic line, Hugo Morel

Once night time came, we found our spots on the beach to sleep. We decided to explore a little around the city. Going with the flow of the crowd, we got dragged into a march from people all over the world. It was very interesting meeting and talking to them.

night time Rio’s streets, Hugo Morel

marching, Hugo Morel

After a rough night of trying to go to sleep, the pope came. The crowd was extremely cheerful. With 64.6% of Brazil being the pope’s follower (not on twitter), the beaches of Copacabana were never this filled. It was amazing to be apart of history.

the pope on the screen, Hugo Morel

the hectic crowd, Hugo Morel

skyscraper, Hugo Morel

After seeing the pope, the crew packed up and headed towards the airport. Unfortunately, we missed our flight. We had to negotiate a deal with the airlines. Long story short, we had to drive from Rio to Buenos Aires. Trust me, it was a butt-numbing experience.

Thanks for taking your time to read this post. Don’t be like the guy in the picture above, drop a like and a follow. Much Love! Next week we go to Miami!

January 22, 2016 20

Riding Rio’s Public Transportation

Rio’s metro is the second most used in Brazil. With 1.1 million riders daily and 401.5 million yearly, the metro is on a global city level.

subway entrance

taken by Hugo Morel

Waiting for the train at the station, makes you feel like you are in Brooklyn, NY at the L train Bedford ave stop. One way metro fare is R$3.50. Remember that the American dollar is about double of Brazil’s currency. The pictures below were taken as we waiting for our train. It was more modern than we expected. Being Americans, we tend to not think so highly about other countries’ subways.

taken by Hugo Morel

Taken By Hugo Morel

The picture below is one of Rio’s subway trains on the outside.

Taking Rio’s subway was very similar to New York’s. The train we took was like New York’s A train. You got your crazies and your trains’ panhandlers. The major difference is that the whole train is connected. In New York, the trains are separated by carts with doors in between each cart. While in Rio, there are individual carts but they are connected with no door dividing them. The train on the inside, looks as if you were inside a giant snake.

taken by Hugo Morel

taken by Hugo morel

taken by Hugo Morel

Walking in the subway stations, we noticed a lot of shops. Very similar to New York’s Penn station. The pictures below were taken in front of a video game store in the subway station.

taken by Hugo Morel

taken By Hugo Morel

Rio’s Public Bus system is on a world class level. With 831 bus routes, you can travel anywhere in the city at cheap rate. The bus fare is R$2.40 one way. In American dollars, the fare is a bout $1.20. Make sure to know this when taking the bus, obese people have priority seating. Make sure not to look like a jerk.

priority seating sign

waiting for the bus

Rio also has an express bus called BRT. The BRT has it’s own private lane on the highway (USA, we should take notes!). Going on one of these buses, can get you across the city in no time. The picture below is a BRT station.

Thank you for taking your time to read this post. Drop a like and a follow. Much Love! Next week, we sleep on the beach and see pope Francis!

January 15, 2016 10

The sun is out, Time to explore

After experiencing a day of nothing but rain, the sun finally got over it’s shyness. We got to see Rio, the way it is in the movies. The true beauty of this city, was hiding from the gloomy weather.

Rio de Janeiro is a huge city with many wonderful neighborhoods. The global image of Rio usually resides in the neighborhood of Copacabana. Copacabana is located in the South Zone. From what the locals told me, this beautiful area was once only for the rich. With time, the beaches became open to the public. As seen in the photos below, the scenery is very alluring.

by Hugo Morel

By Hugo Morel

By Hugo morel

The photos below, are more views of the Atlantic Ocean. The ocean really matches Brazil’s flag, Green and Blue.

the Atlantic Ocean

The photos below were taken at top of Corcovado. Corcovado, meaning hunchback in Portuguese, is a mountain in the city of Rio. The mountain is known worldwide due to it’s iconic statue.

by Hugo Morel

By Hugo Morel

by Hugo Morel

On top of Corcovado, sits the world famous statue, Christ the Redeemer. This iconic symbol is the staple of most Rio de Janiero postcards. To get to the statue, you can take a local bus tour or walk it. I recommend taking a local bus tour. It’s easier and safer. The roads going up the mountain are not very pedestrian- friendly. Once at the top, you must pay a fee to see the statue. We got in for free because we pretended to be priests. It’s hard to believe they actually believed us! I recommend to skip the gift shop. It’s too expensive and most what you find there can be bought at a lower price elsewhere.

Thank you so much for taking your time to read this post. Drop a like and a follow. Much love!! Next week we explore Rio’s metro!

January 8, 2016 19

Another rainy day in Rio

Rio de Janiero, Brazil’s second city. The second largest city in Brazil and the sixth largest in the Americas. Home to some of the best beaches in the world. We were not too excited about it raining in this tropical paradise.

Even with the rain, we still took in the beauty of this city. Like the guy in the picture above, we kept it rolling. No rain will stop us from enjoying our time in the world famous beaches.

Just look how empty these beaches are! It’s amazing and a rare sight for it to be a ghost town.

Even with the rain, the ocean was beautiful. The Atlantic Ocean is seen in the picture below. It looks as if a major storm is near. Luckily, it was just a normal winter rain.

by Hugo Morel

By Hugo Morel

More views of the beautiful scenery during the winter rain. It is breathtaking. Even with the gloomy weather, the views are out of this world.

by Hugo Morel

By Hugo Morel

At times, we felt like the statue down below, stuck and wet.

Look at the photo below. It makes you feel as if you are in some horror movie. No editing went into this picture.

Thank you for taking your time to read this post. Drop a like and a follow! Much Love! Next week the rain clears and we will be exploring Rio in the sun. Happy New Years and stay safe!

January 1, 2016 10

Rain in São Paulo

São Paulo, Brazil is the Americas’ and the Southern Hemisphere’s most populated city. We were so excited to finally be here, in Brazil’s Manhattan. It was towards the end of a 2013 July when we arrived and we were once again reminded the Northern Hemisphere has opposite seasons.

It was raining when we got to São Paulo. Even with the rain, the city still looked amazing. Summer in the Northern Hemisphere is winter in Southern Hemisphere The picture below is São Paulo’s Octávio Frias de Oliveira Bridge. The bridge is a world class landmark. When an image of São Paulo is shown, the Octávio Frias de Oliveira Bridge is usually in the picture.

The Bridge is similar to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. Although, not as famous as the Golden Gate Bridge. Both bridges represent their city in a world class level. The picture below is a close up of the Octávio Frias de Oliveira Bridge.

The Octávio Frias de Oliveira Bridge was created in an unusual form of an “x.” The picture below are skyscrapers with the Bridge’s reflection on the windows. You can see more of it’s “x” form.

São Paulo’s skyline is so amazing. It really does make you feel like you are in Manhattan. The picture to the side, looks similar to when you are driving out of Manhattan and heading to Yonkers, New York.

Another beautiful building in the world class city. The city’s skyline and buildings, truly make you feel like you are in any American city.

published by Hugo morel

The city’s subway and public transportation is very modern. It’s able to compete with Moscow’s. Which, Moscow, has the busiest subway in the world. The pictures above are examples of the city’s public transportation.

sao-paulo-metro-subway-map-new — brought to you by google

The picture above is a picture of São Paulo’s metro map. In 2013, the metro fair one-way was R$2.90. Which was about $1.45 in american dollars. The actually price of metro fair now, probably went up. Just remember one Brazilian Real is about half an American Dollar.

published by Hugo Morel

Published by Hugo Morel

São Paulo is a beautiful city. Very similar to New York City, with it being one and a half of NYC’s population, São Paulo is truly breathtaking.

Thank you for taking your time to read this post. Drop a like and a follow! Happy holidays and we hope you enjoy it with your love ones! Much Love! Next week we will be in Rio de Janeiro.

December 25, 2015 3

Buenos Aires, The Global City

The Global City called Buenos Aires, Argentina has many attractions, as in: landmarks, churches and cultures. It is a city of many cultures that have been brought over from it’s immigrants. Buenos Aires, as a global city, has immigrants from all over the world but, most of the city’s immigrants come from Italy.

The Italian Immigrants have left a mark all over in the Argentinian city. Clothes, cars and food have all been imported by the Italians. The city had quite a few pizza shops. I went with a group of people in a somewhat escorted tour. We were fortunate enough to be able to go into a house of nuns, who cooked us homemade Argentine pizza.We had interesting choices of toppings. One of them was scrambled eggs, which was delicious.

When checking out the landmarks, make sure to stop by the widest avenue in the world called 9 de Julio Avenue. The Avenue was named after Argentina’s independence day July 9, 1816. During the time we were there, which was ironically on July 9, the city was fixing the avenue. This was back in 2013, there should be no construction, hopefully. This Avenue promotes Buenos Aires presence in the world. Also, standing in the middle of the Avenue is the Obelisk.The Obelisk is located on the Plaza de la República. The Obelisk is usually associated with it’s lights during the night, making the area somewhat the “Times Square” of Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires, being a global city, has religions that are practiced from all over the world. The dominant religion is Catholicism. The city has a deep history with the religion because of the Spaniards. The Catholic influence can be seen by the streets’ names, churches and the schools’ named after saints. One church to definitely stop by is the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral. The the Buenos Aires Cathedral is the city’s main church. Also, the church has the remains of the general José de San Martín. The General was responsible for the Independence of Chile, Peru and Argentina from Spain. This is where we were lucky enough to meet the nuns that invited us to some homemade pizza.

Buenos Aires has many hidden treasures full of culture. Traveling down it’s busy streets, you can get glances from all over the world. From the African merchandise to the Europeans playing their windpipes. The city has an abundance of culture, only suitable for a global city.

November 6, 2015 11